You Didn't Beat Apophis?
by muzbo123
Summary: The only reason Sadie and Carter had to forget everything was so that they could defeat Apophis. Now seven years later, being told that Apophis is still out there isn't a comforting thought. Sequel to I'm a Demi-God?
1. A Laptop

**Quote of the Day: **_**'You know what would help this boy?' Demeter mused, 'Farming.'**_** – The Last Olympian.**

**Here I am, posting a sequel I never thought I would write. But since so many of you insisted (and the fact I didn't like the ending to my last story) I'm going to give it a shot!**

**I do not own The Kane Chronicles or Percy Jackson.**

Inside the spacious, brightly lit cafe, Sadie and Nico were talking over their half eaten sandwiches. Angelica, small and delicate, hadn't stirred in her pram; she looked peaceful as she slept.

"How did you defeat, urm... What was the name again?" Nico thought for a couple of seconds before continuing, "How did you defeat Apophis?"

They spoke in lower voices; they didn't want to disturb regular mortals by talking about their own violent lives.

"Apophis?" Sadie whispered, "Apophis has been dormant, we haven't seen him for like, seven/eight years!"

"You mean to say that Apophis is still out there," Nico exclaimed, "And the gods made you forget everything for no reason."

"That was stupid of them," Sadie remarked.

Angelica woke up, crying as if she had had a bad dream. Nico picked her up and cradled her in his arms.

"What's wrong?" Nico asked in his baby voice, "Are you hungry?"

Out of his bag, he pulled out a pink milk bottle and started feeding her. It was an amusing sight to see; Sadie stifled a laugh. Sadie wondered if Nico wanted kids of his own, and if he did, what kind of clothes he'd get them. Black baby suits with miniature skulls on them? That seemed believable.

"Do you want to feed her?" Nico asked Sadie.

"What? Tired already?" She smirked as she held her arms out to hold Angelica.

She'd never held a baby before, let alone feed one. Luckily, Nico seemed to be an expert on baby care and positioned Angelica correctly in Sadie's arms. No wonder Percy and Annabeth trusted Nico with their child. Angelica had finished her milk and yawned. Nico placed her back in her pram and placed a blanket on her as she fell back to sleep.

"Is that all babies do?" Sadie questioned, "Eat and sleep?"

"And poo," Nico added.

They both laughed. It felt like they were twelve again; laughing with each other.

"Do you wanna come to my house?" Sadie asked, "I'm sure Carter would like to see his little niece."

"Sure," Nico replied, "Where is it?"

"On the other side of the river," Sadie explained.

Nico nodded and they left the cafe and made their way to her house. After a few minutes walking, Sadie asked,

"Can't you just shadow travel us there?"

Nico looked down, "Sadie..." He held her hand, "As I got older, I started to lose my powers..."

He looked pretty upset about it. Sadie looked up to find that they were suddenly just down the road from her house. Nico smirked as he saw the shock on her face.

"How did we-

"You actually believed me?" Nico chuckled, "You are so gullible."

"But, I didn't even feel anything," Sadie stated.

"Powers get better as you age," Nico explained, "Now my shadow travelling is suitable for children under three."

He looked into the pram, where Angelica was sound asleep.

"Ok, ok," Sadie said, trying to brush off her gullibility, "You've had your fun."

They were outside the house now. Nico was surprised to see that Sadie lived in an abandoned workhouse.

"You live here?" Nico questioned with a shocked expression.

Sadie smiled; no one could see the mansion at first, "Look carefully."

A five storey mansion materialised in front of Nico's eyes.

"That's impossible!" Nico exclaimed.

Sadie waved her hand a metal staircase formed at their feet, leading up to the mansion.

"You take Angelica," Nico explained, "I'll take the pram."

Carefully, Sadie picked the sleeping baby up and made her way up the stairs. Nico folded up the pram and followed behind. The stairs ended at a big, black entrance; there was no door. At the flick of Sadie's hand the entrance exploded and they walked through.

"You always liked blowing things up," Nico noted as he turned back to look at the entrance, it was closing as a hole got smaller and smaller.

Maybe Nico imagined it, but he saw that the hole was in a heart shape. He placed the folded pram on the floor and took Angelica off Sadie.

"You live here?" Nico asked in admiration.

The place was huge. They walked into a big room where a statue of someone with a bird-head stood. It was slightly un-nerving for Nico to relax in the place as there were so many hieroglyphics scattered around the place. Nico hadn't been able to marvel at the sights when a woman pointed a knife at his throat. His natural reaction was to pull out his sword and slash the knife away. The woman hissed at him and Sadie yelled,

"Bast! He's a friend."

Bast didn't look too pleased as she scanned Nico up and down with her yellow, feline eyes. The look of hatred never left her face and Sadie was disgusted at how she treated guests. Nico, on the other hand, was shocked at what just happened, and even though he didn't know the woman, he resisted the strong, sudden urge of finishing her off clean with his sword.

"Carter," Bast hissed, "You've got guests."

Bast left the room, not wanting to stay another minute in the same place as Nico. Soon after she left, a dark skinned man holding a laptop strolled in; his eyes glued to the screen. When he looked up from it, a wide grin grew on his face.

"Angelica!" Carter cried as he ran up to approach them, "What are you doing here –

Carter never got to finish his sentence because when he looked up at Sadie and Nico, their faces showed that they were both confused and angry.

"I mean," Carter tried to cover up his mistake, "Sadie, who's this?"

"Carter, you're a terrible liar," Sadie said with a hint of anger in her voice, "How do you know who Angelica is?"

Before Carter could answer, Nico asked another questioned,

"And why have got Annabeth's laptop?"

"Urm..." Carter was stumped; he had no idea how to tell them without the risk of one of them trying to kill him.

Sadie glared at him; her blue eyes a dangerous shade.

In the end, Carter spat out the truth.

"Before we left camp," Carter started, "Annabeth insisted I take her laptop, but in the end I made her keep it. After all, she needed it for her designs for Olympus. But when we got home, her laptop was in my bag. She must've put in there when I wasn't looking."

"So you remembered everything after seeing the laptop?" Sadie asked, "But that doesn't make sense, Nico gave me this crystal and I still didn't remember everything."

"On the laptop, Annabeth had saved a document telling me everything that happened," Carter explained.

"And you didn't tell me?" Sadie questioned with a sharp tone, "You said that it was just a dream!"

Sadie looked to Bast; who had now entered the room once again after over-hearing the conversation.

"They had already angered the Greek gods and they made Carter and the other girl to swear on the River Styx not to tell you anything unless you had already found out," Bast spoke.

"You knew?" Sadie questioned; feeling even more betrayed.

Bast turned her face away. Sadie was fuming with anger, even Bast hadn't told her.

"Stupid gods..." Nico mumbled under his breath.

Thunder rumbled outside.

"I DON'T CARE!" Nico yelled up at the sky.

This startled Angelica who woke from her slumber and started whining. Nico apologised for waking her up by rocking her up and down.

"Do you have a phone?" Nico asked, trying to retrain his anger, for some reason, it was harder than usual, especially now Bast had joined the chatter, he didn't know why but he instantly felt a definite hatred towards her the moment she had stuck the knife to his throat. He felt he knew Bast; if he could get rid of her, he would be able to escape. Escape? What had made him think that?

"Yeah," Sadie said as she pulled out her cell phone, "Why?"

Nico didn't answer; instead, he took the phone and dialled a number.

"Hello," He spoke to the phone.

"Hey Nico, Angelica playing up?" Annabeth asked from over the phone, "Whose phone are you calling from?"

"Angelica's fine. But you two need to get here, quick."

"Why? Where are you?"

"Carter's house, you should know where it is," Nico added sharply.

He hung up before Annabeth could say anything else and gave the phone back to Sadie.

"So, you've met Angelica..." Nico started, "Does that mean you and Annabeth have kept in contact ever since?"

"Yeah," Carter admitted, "Sadie, you've even seen her."

"When? I never saw-

Her face filled with realisation.

"She's your boss!" Sadie exclaimed, "I thought I recognised her!"

"Your boss?" Nico asked.

"She runs an association for architects," Carter explained.

Nico remembered Annabeth telling him about some architect association she was part of, he never really listening to her though. As Nico dwelt in his thoughts, the rest waited in silence; but what they were waiting for, they did know. Carter made the odd funny face to Angelica at times, Nico and Bast shared the occasional glare.

Out of the window, down below, they saw a couple holding hands. The black haired man wore a face of confusion and his grey eyed partner looked more worried. Carter formed the stairway for them and opened the entrance. The couple entered the room; the man seemed fascinated by it.

Annabeth walked over to Carter.

"They were gonna find out anyway," She told him.

"Where are we? – Wait! Is that Carter?" Percy smiled.

Carter nodded and Percy clapped him on the back.

Nico wasn't taking this situation the same way as Percy. He was angry and he couldn't hold it back.

"You told me that we couldn't contact them!" Nico shouted, pointing his finger accusingly at Annabeth.

Annabeth tried to speak, but Nico was on a roll.

"You said – You knew how I felt – You lied!"

No one spoke, Annabeth couldn't really defend herself, and she felt terrible about lying to everyone.

"_Send the baby to Tartarus._"

"SHUT UP!" Nico yelled again, clutching onto Angelica who was crying due to the loud noise.

"Nico..." Sadie approached him, "No one said anything."

Percy's face whitened and then held out his arms, walking cautiously towards Nico, "Give Angelica to me."

"No," Was all Nico said before vanishing into darkness; taking Angelica with him.

"Where's he gone?" Annabeth asked; getting slightly angry, "Where's he taken my baby?"

Percy put his arm around her.

"It's alright Annabeth," Percy comforted, "It's not like he's gonna hurt her. He loves Angie to pieces."

He didn't sound too sure though. Sadie didn't know what to feel, at the same time she was angry yet felt sorry for Annabeth, who was now crying into Percy's chest as they sat on the sofa. Carter went over to comfort Annabeth and Percy. Sadie paced up and down the long room, staying away from everyone, even Bast, who at the minute didn't look too affected by the recent events. If anything, Bast looked happier now than when Nico had first entered the mansion.

"It's happening again," Annabeth sobbed, "And it's getting worse."

"What's getting worse?" Sadie questioned, suddenly stopping in her tracks.

"We've got to find him, quick," Annabeth said, wiping her tears as she stood up.

"What's getting worse?" Sadie asked again; losing her patience. She hated it when she never got a straight answer.

"The last time Nico went off the rails," Percy explained; his face pain-stricken, "He almost killed himself."

**So, the first chapter to my sequel! What did you think? Love it? Hate it? Anyway please review!**


	2. Paintings

**Thanks to Someone you need not know, whatyouwishyouknewbutdont, Blackhawk1997, posidensson, Lauren Tobias, 'Luv-Rain', Forcystus5, Vampyre of Night, HannahBerry96 and yumifan101 for reviewing and for your ideas!**

**I'm back at school, so I'm afraid I'll be posting a little slow. Hopefully I should still be able to post a chapter once a week.**

**Quote of the Day: **_**"Let us find the dam snack bar," Zoe said."We should eat while we can." Grover cracked a smile. "The dam snack bar?"**_**- The Titan's Curse**

**I don't own The Kane Chronicles or Percy Jackson.**

Darkness filled the already eerie atmosphere. Yet it was calming for him to sit there; in the peace and quiet. He wasn't one for talking. To be honest, he only talked when necessary and even then he didn't really enjoy it. So he decided that it was best to stay alone rather than suffer the pain of making useless small talk. And what better place to isolate himself from the world around him than in a graveyard. A New Orleans graveyard to be exact; his favourite.

He didn't like being disturbed from his peace; it was the only time for him to think. Although, not socialising with anyone didn't give him much to think about. But had responsibilities, he told himself, he wasn't a total waste of space. A shrill noise echoed across the yard; disrupting his thoughts. He was used to crying; it was the natural thing for mortals to do when they remembered their deceased loved ones, but this cry had not been from a mourner, it was worse than that. It was a baby. What he hated more than the smallest talk was the desperate cry from an insolent brat.

Flicking his mess of long, black hair out of his face, he reluctantly jumped off the crumbling tombstone that he had previously perched on. A couple of tombstones away a dark haired figure was holding on what seemed to be the source of his annoyance. Without thinking, he approached them, ready to tell the figure a piece of his mind. But as he got closer, he realised it was a young man, who looked unnervingly similar to himself. He even felt like his own presence. He felt less angry at the man; he knew how he felt, however, why this man was cradling a baby girl in his arms, he didn't know. In a way, it ruined his dark, solitary look.

Not knowing how to act towards this man, as he wasn't the most sociable of people, he sat on the tombstone opposite him. The man hadn't noticed him yet; instead he pulled out a pink milk bottle and poured a drop on his hand. Deciding that the milk was cool enough; he placed the bottle in the baby's mouth and the graveyard went back to its silent ways. On the gravestone opposite, the boy seemed fascinating, but confused at the man's actions.

"Why did you pour milk on your hand?" The boy said, breaking the awkward silence.

The young man, who had not known that the boy had been observing him, became startled as he looked around for the voice who had addressed him.

"Checking the temperature of the milk, why?" The man said; his eyes now on the asker of the question.

He didn't know why, but he felt like he knew the boy. He recognised him from somewhere, was he a TV star? A TV star probably wouldn't hang around in graveyards. But he was certain that he had seen the boy before, but where he had seen him, he couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe it was the fact that the boy reminded him of himself when he was younger.

"Just wondering," The boy replied, feeling rather dumb about asking a question with such an obvious answer.

Silence filled the graveyard once more. Both of them had trouble trying to make conversation; making small talk was neither of their strong points. It was clear that both of them were introverts. The baby had finished her milk and was satisfied as she sat quietly in the young man's arms.

"Is she yours?" The boy asked another question.

"No," The man sighed; as if wishing she was, "My cousin's."

The boy nodded.

"Just out of interest," The boy started, "Why did you bring a baby to a graveyard?"

"I needed some breathing space," The man admitted, "It's much more peaceful in a graveyard than anywhere else."

"I know," The boy agreed, "The living is too restless, mind you, the dead can be too."

The boy hadn't realised that what he had just said was probably weird, possibly a slight disturbing, for a mortal to say. But he wasn't a mortal. The man had been staring at the boy, rattling his memory, trying to recognise him.

"I know who you are," The man suddenly said, pointing his finger at him.

The boy shifted uncomfortably, if a mortal had found out his identity, maybe he was making it too obvious.

"You're Anubis," He scowled, jumping off the gravestone he had sat on.

"And you are?" Anubis questioned; a little nervous. It was usually enemies who knew his identity without being told.

"Don't you remember?" The man asked, slowly walking to the stone Anubis was sitting on, "You tried to kill me."

* * *

"What did you mean he tried to killed himself?" Sadie questioned; getting worried at what was to happen to Nico.

"No time to waste," Annabeth exclaimed, ignoring Sadie's question.

"Where do we look?" Carter thought aloud.

"Let's try camp," Percy suggested, "He's bound to be in his cabin."

"Come on then guys," Annabeth smiled, drying her tears, "Let's take the car."

Four of them hastily headed towards the door, whereas Bast sat on the sofa, licking her hand. Sadie turned around to face her.

"Bast, are you coming?" She questioned, a bit annoyed at the fact that Bast didn't like Nico.

Bast just turned away, pretending not to hear Sadie.

"Are you coming or not?" Sadie asked again.

"Only if I drive," She replied.

Carter and Sadie exchanged nervous looks; Bast's driving wasn't the most comfortable of rides. Percy seemed willing to give up his role to drive and sat squashed in the back of the car with Carter and Annabeth. Somehow, Sadie had managed to sit in the much roomier passenger seat, despite the others complaints.

The ride was both nauseating and exhilarating, and the demi-gods loved every second of it. Bast had the car going way past the legal speed limit and she only turned at the last second, just before they could crash. This feeling of almost dying was the most excitement any of them had had in ages.

"Do you know where to go?" Sadie managed to ask without feeling sick once she opened her mouth.

"Of course I do," Bast smiled, "I'm a god."

Annabeth gasped slightly for she was shocked to be sitting in the same car as an Egyptian god; she knew she was an Egyptian god as she had never heard of a Greek god called Bast. She was surprised at how Bast treated them, seeing as they were all demi-gods. Maybe they shouldn't have trusted her to drive them to camp; she might take them somewhere else. But just as Annabeth had thought this; they were parked at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill.

Once they had clambered out of the car, they made their way up the hill; Sadie leading the way. As they passed the magical barriers, Annabeth wondered how Bast could go through the borders without needing permission. Maybe it was because the Egyptians and the Greeks avoided each other at all costs, the camp borders didn't need to put defences against the Egyptians.

It was odd for Sadie and Carter to be back at camp; a place that they had both left and forgotten years ago. Nothing much had changed, just the odd movement of the climbing wall or the fact that the place was buzzing with demi-gods. Camp was full; there were more than one hundred campers from what they guessed.

Not wanting to waste any time; Sadie headed towards the cabin made with black obsidian walls, whilst the others went to inform Chiron of what had happened. It was becoming dark and visible were two lanterns burned a green fire at either side of the black, stone door. She knocked it and as she did all her memories came flooding back; the first time she'd shadow travelled with Nico, landing on his bed, when she had bunked in his cabin for a night, when she kissed him. Her face felt hot at her last thought. No one had answered the door, so she swung it open.

It was empty. Nico wasn't there. Sadie sat herself on the unmade bed, her head in her hands. Where could he have gone? She decided not to dwell in the pain of staying in his empty cabin and started to search the rest of the camp. He wasn't sword-fighting or practicing his archery, nor was he attempting to survive the obstacles of the climbing wall. She checked by Zeus' Fist and she checked around the cabins until she stopped her search and sat down at one of the benches in the mess hall.

"Are you alright?" A kind voice came from behind her.

Sadie turned to see a red-headed woman, wearing paint stained jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. The woman came to sit next to Sadie.

"I'm alright," Sadie smiled at her; she just wanted to be alone.

"Really?" The woman asked, "Your face says one thing; your eyes say another."

Sadie recognised the woman; she'd had seen her the last time she was at camp.

"Seriously, I'm fine," Sadie lied.

"I'm Rachel," The woman held out her hand, "And I'm guessing you're Sadie."

Rachel must've remembered Sadie just as she had remembered her.

"I know about Nico," Rachel said, "He'll be fine."

"Percy said that he almost killed himself!" Sadie pointed out.

Rachel stood up.

"Come on," She gestured for Sadie to follow, "I want to show you something."

Rachel walked out of the mess hall and made for the beach. Sadie followed behind; what was she going to show her? Did she know where Nico is? Water glistened on the horizon; Sadie admired its beauty, but not for too long as Rachel was speeding off ahead. In the distance, Sadie saw a cave, draped with purple curtains. Rachel walked inside it and told Sadie to hurry up. Sadie comprehended the fact that of a curtained cave and followed Rachel inside. The inside of the cave was nothing like Sadie had imagined it. It was very spacious for a start; the walls of the cave were filled with paintings. A luscious red carpet covered the floor, it matched Rachel's hair. Rachel sat on her bed whilst Sadie observed her paintings.

There was one of a familiar scene; five figures stood, weapons ready, on the beach, glancing at a giant squid. It was when the Kraken had attacked. Another painting was of a familiar looking blue eyed girl with a symbol of a sun above her head. It was the time she had been claimed. In fact, most of the paintings were of events that had happened.

The painting that caught Sadie's eye was a picture of a boy with a mess of long hair, who looked unnaturally calm. She recognised at once who it was at once. It was twelve year old Nico. Even though he looked so calm, a frustrated look stained his face. He was sitting in his cabin, which was messy as usual. She didn't know why, but she knew that this painting was important. She was about to ask Rachel a question when Rachel said,

"When Percy said he almost killed himself," Rachel walked closer to the picture, "He didn't try anything violent."

"But why?" Sadie asked, her voice trembling, "Why did he want to kill himself?"

"It was a distressing time for him," Rachel explained as she sat back on her bed, "He was distraught when you left and soon after he was diagnosed with some mental disorder."

Being told that he was diagnosed with a mental disorder made Sadie frown.

"So what is he doing in this picture?" Sadie questioned.

"He's releasing his soul to the Underworld," Rachel sniffed, "If I hadn't dreamt about it, he would have succeeded in killing himself peacefully."

Rachel looked pretty shook up about what she had said, as did Sadie. Sadie was shocked that Nico had been through so much, yet when she had met him earlier today, he looked as though he had no troubles. Rachel was now sketching on a pad of paper. Sadie continued to look at the paintings. She saw a small one a shiny black ring, with a purple diamond on it. A wedding ring; probably Annabeth's.

Realising how tired she was; she was about to say good-bye to Rachel when another painting sprung out her. It was a dark painting; the scene was in a graveyard. A figure of a young man cradling a baby perched on a gravestone. Nico! It was Nico and Angie! Of all the places to take a baby, Nico chose a graveyard, so typical of him. Sadie forgot to thank Rachel and ran out of the cave to tell the others about Nico's whereabouts, only to find that they had gone to bed. She'd just have to wait for tomorrow.

Sun had set and most of the campers were asleep. Sadie was about to go to the Apollo cabin when she looked over to the empty Hades' cabin. She entered it and started looking around. It was in this very cabin, this very bed which she was sitting on where Nico had tried to cut his soul loose, as she had heard Anubis use the same phrase before. It was a terrifying thought and Sadie was worried about Nico's general wellbeing.

She took her combat boots off and curled up on the unmade bed; eventually falling asleep.

**Nico: Why are making me an emo?**

**Me: Because you act like one-**

**Nico: *Death glare***

**Me: -Sometimes**

**Nico: *Death glare***

**Me: Stop it! Do you want to find out what happens to you?**

**Nico: Yeah!**

**Me: Then don't kill me!**

**Nico: I wasn't gonna kill you, you idiot!**

**Me: *Death glare***

**Nico: Nah... Doesn't work for you.**

**Me: *Ignoring Nico* Anyway, Please review!**


	3. Rule Breaking

**Thanks to Maybe Its Not A Myth, whatyouwishyouknewbutdont, Spartan Josh-D158, Someone you need not know, biblioholic, ThatGirlWhoLikesBooks, 4everBookLover, Dude3210 and nakedeye for reviewing!**

**Quote of the Day: **_**Dreams like a podcast,**__**Downloading truth in my ears.**__**They tell me cool stuff **____**– Apollo, The Titan's Curse.**_

**I don't own The Kane Chronicles or Percy Jackson.**

His sword was at Anubis' throat. Now, Anubis, even though he was a god, he wasn't very good at fighting, as his cousin Horus used to always tease him about, so he tried to think of something clever to say.

"Now, now," Anubis gagged, "You don't want to hurt the baby."

Nico looked down at Angelica, who was resting in his free arm. Then he turned to Anubis, with an almost evil glint in his eyes. Angelica had been surrounded by shadows and once they had disappeared, Angie was gone. Anubis gulped, now he didn't have anything to distract Nico.

"No, why would I hurt Angie?" Nico asked, as he pushed Anubis to the ground.

It felt good to get his revenge on him, revenge that had been storing up for years. With Nico's foot on his chest; Anubis decided to fight back as well as he could. It was going to be hard to put up a good enough fight with Nico, you could tell just by looking at him that he had years of training. With yet another sword dug into his throat (if he wasn't a god, he'd probably be dead), Anubis saw someone. Her caramel hair glinted in the moonlight.

"The others are worried about you," Anubis exclaimed, still trying to make Nico release him.

"They don't care about me," Nico snapped back.

"They do," Anubis reasoned, "Sadie does."

This made Nico withdrew the sword, but still he kept his foot on his chest.

The woman behind the tombstone smiled at Anubis and mouthed something to him.

"Go back to your stupid camp," Anubis snarled, "Believe me, nobody cares about you _here_."

Nico stomped his foot down hard onto to Anubis chest before placing back it on the ground, he knew he couldn't kill him, he was a god after all. The young woman behind the stone had gone. Anubis stood up and brushed himself off.

"Nice meeting you," Anubis voice was heavy with sarcasm.

"You too," Nico matched his tone.

Darkness swirled around Nico, for a moment, Anubis thought Nico was going to try and kill him somehow with it. But he then realised that it was Nico's mode of transport because once the shadows went, he was gone. Good riddance, Anubis thought. Now he could get back to the more important things in life, well, the After-life.

* * *

Nico materialised in front of Percy's cabin. Not bothering to knock on the door; he entered the cabin. He found that somebody had broken the rules. And it wasn't Percy. Annabeth lay asleep in her husband's arms. Instantly, Nico felt guilt. They must've been worried sick about little Angelica; it looked as though they had fallen asleep, crying. Nico glanced over to her cot bed, where she was sound asleep, just as he wanted. Little owls and pegasi flew across the cot. The cot bed was a gift from Angie's godly grandparents. It was another example of what good came if they ever tried to work together.

Slowly, Nico exited the cabin, but just as he was through the door, Percy awoke and said,

"Thank you, Nico."

Nico smiled at him before making his way towards his cabin. He entered his cabin, only to find yet another rule breaker. But rule breaking came naturally to Sadie. Nico found her curled up on his bed; she looked so peaceful. Deciding not to disrupt her sleep, he placed the cover over her shivering shoulders. Not bothering to change into his pyjamas, he took off his boots and shirt and slipped into the empty bed in the corner of the cabin.

Morning dawned and Sadie rubbed her tired eyes; allowing the light to wake her up fully. She hoped Anubis had managed to make Nico come back to camp; whether that meant telling him politely or threatening him. She just remembered that she had fallen asleep in the Hades' cabin and quickly leapt out of Nico's bed and pulled on her boots.

"Somebody realise that they were in the wrong cabin?" A voice from behind asked in a sarcastic tone.

Sadie nearly jumped out of her skin; she thought the cabin was empty. She turned to see Nico, sitting up in his bed. At the sight of his bare chest, she was speechless. Which, for Sadie, was very unlikely.

"Well the least you could've done was make my bed," Nico laughed as he got out of bed and pulled his shirt on.

This allowed Sadie to recollect her words.

"I'm not a maid, you know," Sadie exclaimed, "Your bed was already messy anyway."

"Oh well," Nico smiled as he left both beds unmade, "It's not like its cabin inspection today."

"Now where were you?" Sadie asked, pretending to know nothing of her _ba _trip.

Nico said nothing.

"Tell me now, before I –

Nico put a finger on Sadie's lips and walked out the cabin, leaving a slightly flustered yet slightly confused Sadie.

Campers were practising for Capture the Flag which was taking place the next day. It was going to be an exciting one as Percy and Nico were on separate teams; usually if they were on the same team, they had a good chance of winning. In fact, in this game, the two captain teams were Poseidon and Hades. On Poseidon's side were Apollo, Hermes, Hecate, Nemesis, Demeter and Aphrodite. On Hades' side were Athena, Ares, Hebe, Iris, Hephaestus and Dionysus. It was a fairly balanced game; which meant it was going to be a very exciting one.

In the Athena cabin, Annabeth and Carter were looking after Angelica whilst they devised a plan for the following day. Despite the fact that they were older; they were still very competitive.

"Percy will definitely put himself as offence," Annabeth stated as she stroked Angelica's soft, black hair.

"So our flag and our defence should be away from water," Carter explained, "But who would be strong enough to be on defence?"

"Now that's when Nico comes in..." Annabeth smiled, "You see, Nico can use his powers almost anywhere, but Percy is stronger by water."

"Makes sense," Carter agreed.

As they continued to plan everyone's position, Nico and Sadie were practising sword fighting. They were in the arena; in their battle armour. Sadie found herself a balanced sword and challenged Nico to a duel.

"You sure you want a fight?" Nico teased, "You've not exactly been practising."

"Hmph. I'll prove you wrong," Sadie exclaimed; her fingers slowly forming the shape of a make-believe gun.

"Oh no," Nico shook his head, realising what the gun meant, "No magic."

Sadie moaned, but agreed. They both pulled their helmets on and unsheathed their swords. For a moment or so, they circled each other, wondering when the other was going to strike. It was Sadie who struck first, making a brave strike to Nico's neck. He deflected easily and managed to hit Sadie's armour, causing her to stumble backwards.

"Is that all you got?" Sadie yelled, regaining her balance.

"All I've got!" Nico laughed, "I'm going easy on you!"

Sadie aimed her sword at the hilt of Nico's, but missed and cut his hand instead. Nico didn't seem too phased about it, but Sadie hesitated; she didn't want to actually hurt him. But in the moment she'd hesitated, Nico slashed at her arm. Sadie, who was off guard, fell to the ground, clutching her arm. She whimpered with pain.

Dropping his sword, Nico crouched down beside her, checking if she was okay. Just as he was about to brush her hair away from her face, he was pinned to the ground quicker than you could say 'Half-Blood'. It all happened so fast, it was only now had he realised that Sadie's knee was dug into his chest. She stared down into Nico's face of defeat. She leant forward to his ear and whispered,

"Who's gullible now?"

Her lips lightly brushed against Nico's cool ear. She got off from him and sat next to him on the ground. Nico still lay on the floor; he was tired and didn't want to move from the sunlight. He didn't even mind the fact that Sadie was subconsciously stroking his hair. In fact, he actually liked it. Percy, who had been maiming an unsuspecting dummy, oversaw what had happened between Nico and Sadie; he knew where he would position Sadie in the game.

"You know, that you're still gullible right?" Nico stated, just to annoy her.

"No!" Sadie argued, "You so fell for my trick!"

"Well, you were a damsel in distress," Nico defended himself, "It would've been rude for me not to help!"

"A damsel?" Sadie questioned, "Since when was I a damsel?"

Nico laughed, not really knowing the answer to her question. Was it from the first time he'd met her? Or was it ever since she'd came back to camp? The conch bell for lunch broke Nico's thoughts and they got up, entwined their fingers, and headed towards the mess hall.

The hall was buzzing with excitement, everyone had been preparing for the game tomorrow. Chiron and Mr D. had stood up waiting for quiet.

"As you already know," Mr D reluctantly started, "Chiron has organised yet another one of your poxy little games which he'd like to say more about. But to be honest, I couldn't care less. Just another 43 years and I'm out of here!"

"Thank you Mr D," Chiron smiled as he watched Mr D sit back down.

"Now," Chiron continued, "Just to clarify, the two opposing teams for Capture the Flag are Hades –

There was a roar of cheering from all the cabins supporting Hades.

"And Poseidon's cabin –

Another roar of noise spread through the hall.

"I just want to clear the rules. Magical items are allowed and so are any other powers you may possess. And please try not to seriously injure your fellow campers."

Chiron's eyes swayed towards the Ares table; making it obvious that he directed his last comment at them.

"That is all for now. Enjoy your food," Chiron finally announced.

Everybody had scrapped some food into the fire; filling the hall with the most desirable smells. Once lunch was over, the campers went by their usual routines, practicing for tomorrow every so often. As the sun set, the campers made for bed earlier than usual, to make sure that they were well rested for the next day. For none of them wanted the other team to win and none of the campers wanted to be the one who let their team down.

**A bit of a boring chapter, I know... Sorry about that... I know that I'm making Nico OOC, but that's part of the story...**


End file.
